Jean de La Fontaine revisited

The ongoing strikes in Guadeloupe inspired my friend Bubulcusibis a beautiful translation and détournement of the French poet Jean de La Fontaine. Cheeky and well-focused.

THE AGING LION by Jean de La Fontaine

A lion, mourning, in his age, the wane
Of might once dreaded through his wild domain,
Was mock’d, at last, upon his throne,
By subjects of his own,
Strong through his weakness grown.
The horse his head saluted with a kick;
The wolf snapp’d at his royal hide;
The ox, too, gored him in the side;
The unhappy lion, sad and sick,
Could hardly growl, he was so weak.
In uncomplaining, stoic pride,
He waited for the hour of fate,
Until the ass approach’d his gate;
Whereat, ‘This is too much,’ he saith;
‘I willingly would yield my breath;
But, ah! thy kick is double death!’

THE AGING LION, A French Modern Tale by Bubulcusibis

France, mourning, in its age, the wane
Of might once dreaded through its wild domain,
Was mock’d, at last, upon its throne,
By subjects of its own,
Strong through its weakness grown.
Guadeloupe his head saluted with a kick;
Martinique snapp’d at its royal hide;
Reunion, too, gored it in the side;
The unhappy France, sad and sick,
Could hardly growl, it was so weak.
In uncomplaining, stoic pride,
It waited for the hour of fate,
Until Guyana approach’d its gate;
Whereat, ‘This is too much,’ it saith;
‘I willingly would yield my breath;
But, ah! thy kick is double death!’

Please find the full version of the article here

Trade unionist shot dead in French Carribbean

It is been a month now since a general strike started in Guadeloupe (French Carribbean). The "Committee against outrageous exploitation" (LKP) brought together fifty associations and trade unions calling for a 200 euro pay rise of the minimum wage, ie 20%. French President Nicolas Sarkozy increased his own salary of 140% in 2007 when he got elected - upgrading his annual wage from 101 488 to 240 000 euros.

In the beginning of this month, the government started negotiations. Prime Minister François Fillon refused to raise the minimum wage and Nicolas Sarkozy said about the 25 000 people demonstrating on the island: "they are desperate". And sent more gendarmes, 300.

On February 17th, a trade unionist from LKP has been shot dead as he went back from a meeting.
According to the government and the police, it is "a group of young people" who killed Jacques Bino.

Jean-Marie Nomertin, from the same union, said: "There was a red ribbon on the car which is a sign of affiliation to LKP." It is quite incomprehensible that "young people" fired the car of someone they support. He concluded : "We need to shade some light on the parts that are not clear."

Mort d'un syndicaliste: le LKP veut des explications - Nouvel Obs
Le collectif LKP qui mène le mouvement de grogne en Guadeloupe veut que toute la lumière soit faite sur les circonstances du meurtre d'un syndicaliste.

Mots-clés : outremer guadeloupe social grèves violences

Video de obsvideo